Primitive Man, Celeste, Connoisseur, Torch Runner, Priapus

When: Thu., June 25, 8:30 p.m. 2015

Denver’s Primitive Man debuted in 2013 with Scorn, a harsh and oppressive slab of charred doom. Their latest, February’s Home Is Where the Hatred Is EP, continues in the same vein, grinding feedback over torturously slow tempos. The French band Celeste shapes bitter blasts of black metal with post-rock dynamics. Where the headliners favor labored pacing, Torch Runner and Priapus—the pair of Greensboro openers—burst ahead with grindcore frenzy. Torch Runner’s balance of precise lunges and abrupt slowdowns makes them a versatile and vicious standout, and Priapus’ speed-crazy death-grind is a thrill, too. Oakland’s Connoisseur fits neatly between extremes with their crusty thrash. —Bryan C. Reed